TPC approves engineering design phase for Texas butadiene expansion

This approval follows the successful completion of the project's preliminary engineering study to produce butadiene from a variety of sources. TPC Group said it anticipates that its engineering design optimization will be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2013.

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The board of directors for US-based TPC Group has approved
capital for the next phase of engineering to produce on-purpose
butadiene and expand production capacity to meet market demand,
the company said on Monday.

This approval follows the successful completion of the project's preliminary engineering
study to produce butadiene from a variety of sources.

The US shale gas revolution offers an abundance of natural gas
liquids for feedstocks to produce butadiene,
according to the company. It has also had an impact on
by-product butadiene production, creating a shortage of
butadiene to meet customer needs.

TPC Group anticipates that its engineering design optimization
will be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2013.

"TPC Group is committed to maintaining its position as the
leading supplier of butadiene in North America," said CEO
Michael McDonnell. "As the leading independent marketer of
butadiene, we are focused on meeting our customers' needs for
high quality products, delivered through our extensive
aggregation and logistics network.

"The commitment we make to our customers is backed by the
security of having multiple production units and multiple
sources of feedstock supply, including our
plans to add our own on-purpose butadiene production unit
targeted for startup in 2016."

TPC Group first entered the butadiene market in 1943.
Utilization of TPC's OXO-DTMtechnology, which began in 1965,
allows for a highly efficient on-purpose butadiene production
process, according to the company.

TPC Group said it aims to address the structural shortage of
supply due to the shift from heavier to lighter feedslates by
ethylene producers. The need for a capacity expansion is driven by the growing
demand for butadiene and the reduced by-product of crude
butadiene available as North American ethylene producers
utilize more ethane as a primary feedstock.

TPC supplies the market with butadiene from its Houston and
Port Neches production facilities in Texas.

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